Beautiful
by SiriuslyLoveSnuffles
Summary: Hermione/Sirius. Hermione's facing some insecurities. Can Sirius show her how beautiful she really is?


Disclaimer: JKR owns, I do not :(

A/N: Here's a Sirius/Hermione oneshot. I hope you all enjoy :) I think the next thing I'll do will either be James/Lily or Draco/Hermione. Let me know what I should do! :D

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She tried to suppress a yawn as she was hidden behind piles of books in the Black library. The words on a very old, fragile book Hermione was reading, were starting to become blurry and for the fifth time that night she rubbed her eyes to stay awake.

The clock chimed in the hallway, signifying that midnight had come, and she had now been in the library for a solid six hours. She glanced at the plate on the edge of the coffee table where there wasn't a stack of books and smiled fondly, remembering how Harry had brought her a nice cup of tea with a something to eat. She could hear him now: _"You've been at it all day, 'Mione. Give it a rest. Come on, let's go out." _

Harry had always been her rock. He kept her stable when she was about to fall, and he kept her on track when she was slipping off. It had been his immense depression after the war that drove her to search for answers. Having a job at the Ministry helped loads, but it was her quick mind that she was thankful for having that guided her through. When Harry thought she wasn't looking, his eyes would always linger a second longer on Sirius' door when he passed it, she would catch him looking at the empty seat at the kitchen table where Sirius most often sat, and she always crawled into bed with him and held him when his nightmares would wake her, which was common. Very common. And it broke her heart.

All these little things brought her to research about the Veil. Apparently (she found out), it wasn't a curtain to death at all. It was like a mini prison. You were suffering a confined space, where you were alone, confused, and unaware. Thanks to Hermione, and the people who helped from the Ministry, fourteen people were freed from the Veil, and although she, and especially Harry, were overjoyed at the fact he was back, she couldn't shake off the feeling that it was a possibility someone could fall through again.

So, here she was; sitting in a library, trying to find a way to destroy it. Hermione didn't want anyone else to be sucked into its nasty confinement, so she was desperate for answers. Leaning over a thick text, she felt her eyes begin to droop for the umpteenth time that night.

"You work too much."

The voice had shocked her so much, she literally jumped back in her chair, making it screech across the floor, and let out a squeak, while clutching her hand to her heart. "Sirius!" She hissed in a whisper voice.

The man grinned, obviously amused, and sat in the chair directly in front of her. Fighting off the blush on her face, Hermione looked down at the book and snapped it shut. "What are you doing up?" She asked her tone suspicious.

Sirius shrugged, leaning back into his chair. "I might ask you the same question."

"I'm here to research." She sniffed, nose in the air. "I don't think this will be a fun activity on your part, so if you wish to go back to bed, I'll try to be more quiet. Sorry if I woke you."

His eyebrow raised. "I've been awake." He answered, leaving out why and continued. "What are you researching?"

She looked at him through her lashes with a grimace, wondering if she should tell him. Realizing that he had every right to know, she answered, "I'm trying to find out how to destroy the Veil."

Sirius rose his eyebrows in shock. "Really?" He questioned, crossing his arms and leaning forward. "Why?"

Hermione shrugged, her heart racing at the intense staring he was doing. "You were suffering in there, Sirius. Nobody should have to go through that, and I won't let it happen again."

Sirius regarded the younger woman with even more respect that he had for her. "That's very admirable of you."

She opened a new, thicker than thick book and hid behind her bushy locks, hoping he didn't notice the red creeping into her cheeks. "It's not admirable; it's my job."

Reaching across the table, Sirius grasped Hermione's hand and she bit her lip, scolding herself in acting like a hormonal teenager. "You try to hide behind this unfazed mask, but I see you Hermione." He said, seriously. "You act like you don't have nightmares at night, that you don't feel lost because Harry and Ron are moving fast through their relationship's with Luna and Ginny. I see the desperation in your eyes when you think no one is watching. I even see the way you look longingly at Remus, Tonks and Teddy, the ideal family. You hide behind smiles, and knowledge, but your eyes give you away."

Hermione glared at him, upset he could see so easily through her. "You've been watching me." It was a statement, not a question.

He took his hand back and ran it through his hair. "Yes, I have."

There was silence before she spoke. "...Why?"

Sirius let out something that was caught between a laugh and a scoff. "You are very intriguing, Hermione. Can you not see that?"

The woman scrunched her eyebrows together and pursed her lips. "I'm about as intriguing as a nargle." Hermione said, rethinking to Luna's discussion on the nonexistent creatures.

"I don't know what the bloody hell a nargle is, but have you no idea how you manage to captivate me?!" He said, somewhat frustrated.

Hermione snapped her eyes to his in shock. Did he just say she was... _captivating?_ Those years in Azkaban had probably messed up his mindset. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that could make her attractive to Sirius Black, notorious charmer and flirt. Not to mention, even in his late thirties, he was devilishly handsome.

Hermione scoffed, snapping her book shut and standing up. "You're barking. I think you need some sleep."

Sirius growled and stood up as well, marching so he was directly in front of her. She hadn't noticed she'd backed up until her back met the wall. "W-wh-"

"Why is it that you doubt your beauty, Hermione?" He asked gruffly, pinning her against the wall.

She licked her lips, watching his gray eyes dart toward her movement.

"Why?" He asked again, breathing harder. His resistance he held since she was nineteen three years ago, snapping.

Focusing back to his question, and not on his breath that mingled with hers, she whispered bitterly, "What beauty? My annoying ability to take things too seriously? The way my hips stick out too far? My bookwormish ways that practically repel men? My untamed, wild, bushy hair? I don't see beauty, I see too many flaws and imperfections." By the end of her small rant, she had tears in her eyes.

Sirius' face hardened. "How can you think that?" He bit out, incredulously.

"Don't try to lie, Sirius." Hermione snapped, staring him straight in the eyes. "You don't have to spare my feelings. I'm a big girl, and I'm fine with who I am."

He cupped her shoulders roughly, "I'll admit you do take things too seriously sometimes, but it's not all the time and it's definitely not annoying. Hell, it helped Harry back at Hogwarts, didn't it? How can you hate something that saved your best friend's lives?"

Hermione's brow furrowed. She hadn't thought of it that way.. before she could say anything else, he continued.

"And as for your hips," He said, running his hands over them and into the dramatic dip that was her small waist, earning another blush from the witch. "They're positively mouthwatering; they balance your figure perfectly; enhances your small waist and larger... assets." He said, pointedly staring at her chest, to which she tried to cover by crossing her arms. He frowned and pulled her arms away and continued again.

"As for your 'bookwormish ways', I find it incredibly sexy." He said huskily.

Hermione bit her lip. "Sexy?" She whispered, skeptically.

He looked into her eyes, and nodded. "Very sexy. Not many woman can hold such an intelligent conversation at your age. It's refreshing, to say the least. And your temper! Merlin, your temper drives me barmy. When you go off about S.P.E.W and what not, your anger and passion drive me absolutely mad with want." He groaned, closing his eyes.

Hermione was beyond shocked. Sure, she had developed a crush for the man back in her fifth year, and steadily grew to love and admire him, but never in her wildest dreams had she thought he would like her back in any sort of attraction type of way.

"And your hair," He said, twirling a curl in his fingers tenderly and putting his forehead against hers. "It's so you, I can't imagine you looking any differently. I don't want to imagine you any differently."

"Sirius," She whispered, touched and a bit flustered at the things he had just told her.

"For three years," He groaned, not moving. "Three years I've kept my feelings away from you out of what should be appropriate, but I can't anymore. I can't."

Feeling brave for the moment, Hermione tangled her hands into his trademark hair, admiring the silkiness of his strands. "Then don't."

As if her words snapped something inside of him, he acted fast, cradling her face into his palms and divulging himself into her lips. Shocked, Hermione took a second to find out what was happening, but once she did, she closed her eyes and tightened her hold on his hair and deepened the kiss.

They poured equal amount of passion into the kiss, and it was so intense that when they were finished a few minutes later, Hermione actually felt light headed and dazed.

Their breathing was harsh and ragged, echoing loudly in the quiet room. "Wow," She whispered. Sirius chuckled, kissing her on the forehead, then her nose, then finally landing a chaste kiss to her lips. "Yes," He said, voice deep and husky. "Wow."

"I think... over these past years I fell in love with you." Sirius said quietly, breaking the silence.

Chocolate orbs snapped to gray, and he instantly felt his nerves melt away when she smiled brightly. He wiped the tears that spilled over her eyes. "I love you, too." She responded, throat closing with emotion. They kissed again and ended up on the couch by the fireplace at the end of the room, talking and snogging until the wee hours of the morning.

Around sunrise, Hermione ran her fingers over his cheeks lovingly. "Thank you." She whispered onto his lips sleepily.

"For what, love?" He answered, rubbing circles onto her back, admiring the way the morning light hit her features perfectly.

"For making me beautiful." She answered.

He tilted her chin, so her eyes were leveled with his own. "You've always been beautiful, 'Mione. Always." Then, he leaned down and captured her lips in a tender, loving kiss.

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Fin. Okay, review please! Should I do a James/Lily next or Hermione/Draco?


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